Modern American Society Research Paper

Due to the economic takeoff after the World War II, the landscape of American society as well as people`s lifestyles changed profoundly from 1960s throughout to 1990s. The rapid massive development of suburban areas around cities greatly increased people`s dependence on automobiles and the rise of auto-based societies and the explosive industrial growth and mass production of the automobiles made the vehicles

The automobile began as a rich man’s toy, and in today’s society almost every single person owns one of these miraculous inventions. After the automobile became more popular, society has evolved around it, creating highways and fast food chains. The automobile has revised from a bare invention, such as the horseless carriage, to now technologically advanced motor vehicles with bluetooth and wireless internet. Since the beginning age of the automobile in 1885, the invention has advanced, prospered, and changed society throughout the world.

The document “The Social Influence of the Automobile” was written in June of 1922 by Allen D. Albert. In this article Albert is saying that since the creation of automobiles the life has shifted for the better. “…almost without a pause in our thinking have we adjusted our lives to these factors new since yesterday”1 while automobiles brought a drastic change in life as it was, people adjusted to it quickly. In 1920’s cars were available to the general public at an affordable price, therefor offering the public a better, faster way of getting from place to place. Most importantly according to the document cars brought a change in the social aspects of life. With the help of a car travel times were decreased. Cities were now in reaching distance.

Henry Ford, whose name arouses recognition to this day, was one of the most well known figures in the automobile industry. He had created the assembly line to use within manufacturing in order to increase productivity, and consequently, reduce the prices of automobiles. With these famously low prices, it wasn’t uncommon to see cars, such as the 1920 ReVere Touring Car, parked around cities (Doc D). Finally, most American persons would be able to afford a personal vehicle. Due to the growth in this particular industry, employment opportunities had opened up for the common man, with the demand for car factory laborers. It seems, that with this advancement, America was better

Henry Ford once said, “If everything is moving forward together then success takes care of itself”. Society has been revising how we live for centuries and still continues to do so. Naturally, we look for ways to improve humanity and make the world a better place to live. One critical contributor to the success of society in the 1920s was Henry Ford. Henry Ford’s ingenuity gave birth to something that would revolutionize society for years to come. This was the beginning of a new era. Henry Ford’s automobiles revolutionized civilization in many aspects. Innovations in technology and how it’s made impacted people’s lives in the 1920s and modern-day life.

According to Foner, “By 1960, 80 percent of American families owned at least one car, and 14 percent had two or more, nearly all manufactured in the United States”(). Many families owned automobiles, for it enabled long-distance vacationing and commuting to work, malls, etc. The ability for people to travel farther distances through means other than trains and trolleys stimulated a population shift from cities to suburbs. Approximately one third of Southern California, a mainly suburban area, was “paved over with roads and parking lots,” hence showing a transformation in American landscape. Infrastructure had to accommodate for cars as they became central to American life. Not only did the automobile alter the American landscape with a web of roads and freeways, but it also led to “the construction of motels, drive-in movie theaters, and roadside eating establishments”(). The automobile revolutionized America, as it allowed for individual mobility and private choice-a symbol of

The first way the automobile has changed American society is by creating more jobs. The automobile created jobs in fast food, city/highway construction, state patrol/police, convenience stores, gas stations and auto shops.1 Mechanics were beginning to earn a living fixing the inevitable problems.2 Also oil and steel were two well-established industries that received a serious boost by the demand for automobiles, which created tens of thousands of jobs.3 The steel industry and machine tool makers flourished as the automotive industry required ever increasing supplies and components for the engines, chassis and other metal fixtures of the cars.4 Other than the basics, every car needed a battery, head lights, interior upholstery and paint, which created new side businesses.5 The trucking industry sustained a period of growth as more good were shipped via truck.6 Experts estimate that by about 1980, two

In the early 1900s, the United States of America would see the introduction of a piece of technology that would change the way we as a society would look at travel. Henry Ford began production of Model T, the vehicle soon found its way into many American homes. By 1927, the Ford Motor Company had sold nearly 15 million of the mass produced, affordable car. The automobile was no longer a luxury but, a necessity for Americans. During the infancy of the automobile, the roads where nothing more than a mere rutted up path through the country side. Though shortly, people realized the need for better roads. The only problem was, who was going to pay the bill?

In the early twentieth century, science and technology brought the automobile. In less than one hundred years, humans especially Americans have grown

Throughout the 1800’s, methods of transportation were limited; people either used horses or rode on the train. Most people lived in town near their work. With the introduction of the automobile, society evolved and soon transformed to fit the need of people’s transportation. Many of those needs caused by automobile invention included society, economy and finally, politics.

Threats of substitutes: In U.S., an automobile was considered as necessity so for every adult there was car on roads. Even for inter-city travel more than 70% time cars were used. Buses, trains and other means didn’t have much impact. The growing array of higher priced imported models had negative effect.

The progressive vision did not die with their failure to secure the White House in 1912. Their ideology has become part of the vernacular of society, education and politics; influencing all modern presidencies, especially those of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Barack H. Obama. The desire of progressives was to have an informed, civilized, democratized population, not hindered by corrupt local governments, legislative or judicial branches influenced by special interests or outdated philosophies. The self-serving interests of individuals, individualism, needs to be replaced with needs of the whole, collectivism. Government power needed to be allowed to evolve, based on scientific principles, findings of experts and

The automobile’s invention revolutionized the American transportation system. It allowed people to move themselves and cargo from city-to-city and state-to-state in a much faster and efficient manner. Its numbers increased as it gained popularity and became affordable. This led to the development of road networks both within and between cities. Problems arose in the areas where roads intersected each other; accidents occurred at these intersections due to the lack in control of vehicular movements. Cities employed people to direct traffic at busy intersections to address this issue, but eventually the intersections became too numerous to control using this method. The development of automated

“The new technology of the motor car became central to the development of twentieth century cities in the US” (Roberts 2009 p53) and by 1914 the US production had exceeded that of the whole of Europe. What started out as a transportation toy for the very rich in 1900 became available to ordinary working class citizens by 1920 (Roberts 2009 p55). The technologies born of the Industrial Revolution changed forever the way people in the West lived and worked and economies strengthened as a new era dawned of mass production and consumerism. But in the 1920s, it was the availability of a mix of technologies and policies which facilitated the pace and scale of suburbanization and decentralization of the cities in both the US and Germany

Technology has brought many luxuries to people. The invention of the automobile has brought convenience to everyday living. People use their vehicles to commute to work, school, home, and other events. Some people cannot even imagine living life without the use of an automobile. People have different tastes in the type of automobile that they drive; the automotive industry has made several different ways to commute. The car and the sports utility vehicle seem to be the most common types. The sports utility vehicle is inferior to the car.